Runners

30 RUNNER’S WORLD JULY 2018 PHOTOGRAPH BY LARSEN & TALBERTTHE RUN-TO-LOSEPROBLEMTRYING TO SHED A FEWKILOS? YOU’LL WANT TOAVOID THESE COMMONDIETING TRAPS, SO YOU CANRUN HEALTHY AND HAPPY.BY LESLIE GOLDMANIN 2011, ALLIE KIEFFER ran1 600m in 4:40.9, and camethird in the USA Track & FieldIndoor Championships 3 000-metreevent. She was fast. But she wantedto be faster.“We often hear that to run faster,you should lose weight,” Kieffersays. At 17 per cent body fat, the now30-year-old was already lean, but“everyone seemed leaner than me”.So, as she made the jump to the elitescene, Kieffer began cutting kilojoulesand fat. She lost 4.5kg, and qualifiedfor the upcoming Olympic Trials.She also developed a stress reaction``````in her tibia. Not only did runninghurt, but “I spent hours a day trackingwhat I ate,” she remembers. “I’d lie inbed at night, hungry. Dieting basicallyruined running for me.” The injuryprevented her from competing inthe 2012 Olympic Trials, and Kiefferdidn’t run competitively again fornearly three years.The elite runner isn’t alone in usingrunning and kilojoule-cutting to shedweight. Among newbies, weight loss issecond only to exercise as a motivatorfor lacing up, according to RunningUSA’s 2017 National Runner Survey.But dieting doesn’t always make